'Big game' for Seahawks' Russell Wilson in four TD trouncing of 49ers

Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks drops back to pass during a game against the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field on December 23, 2012 in Seattle, Washington.Photo by
Stephen Brashear

SEATTLE – There is nothing like the crackling buzz of expectation before a big game. In Vancouver, there are no big games.

Only 2½ hours down the highway but a million miles from the National Hockey League lockout, the Seattle Seahawks played the San Francisco 49ers Sunday night in one of those games so big you can feel it coming by the high-voltage thrum in the city.

Bars and restaurants were crowded Saturday night with football fans, many in uniform. The hefty Sunday morning Seattle Times landed on doorsteps with football stories on the front of the newspaper as well as the front of the sports section.

Chartered buses from San Francisco unloaded 49ers fans, who mingled with Seahawk supporters in the crowded shops on Pine Street before the mass multi-faith pilgrimage towards Pioneer Square and CenturyLink Field began in the afternoon.

Seattle fans wore Seahawk jerseys over and under their Gortex. Two imposters tried to play football on First Avenue and were heckled. “You better throw a tight spiral with a mullet like that.”

A man dressed entirely in neon lime towed a 49ers' teddy bear behind his remote-control jeep on Occidental Avenue and was cheered.

NBC Television, deprived of NHL content on its boutique sports channel, changed Sunday's kickoff to prime time. It was the biggest National Football League game of the day in the biggest league in the loudest outdoor stadium in North America. It was the place to be.

And if any of the estimated 7,000 Canadians in the crowd of 68,167 gave it any thought, it was a reminder what hockey fans are missing.

The Seahawks, who would be a story throughout the Pacific Northwest even if the NHL was in session, continue to amaze.

With a dozen rookies on the roster, 11 starters with less than three seasons in the NFL and a 5-10½ starting quarterback who was a third-round draft pick this year, Seattle hammered division-leading San Francisco 42-13 to clinch a playoff spot and their first 10-win season since 2007.

“There's nothing I can say about where we're going,” rookie quarterback sensation Russell Wilson said after a four-touchdown-passes night. “We're trying to do something great, trying to do something special. The biggest accolade we want is the Lombardi Trophy.”

The NFL playoffs begin in two weeks, and the 10-5 Seahawks could yet go in as division champions. They'll win the NFC West if they beat the St. Louis Rams next Sunday and the Arizona Cardinals upset 9-4-1 San Francisco.

Seattle has outscored its last three opponents 150-30.

“I would say you made that up and you're talking about the Bears back in the day or something crazy,” cornerback Richard Sherman, who returned a blocked field goal for a second-quarter touchdown, said when asked about the Seahawks' scoreboard dominance. “We beat some pretty good teams but there was no way we thought we were going to beat (the 49ers) like this. It was just a big game for us.”

After the game, Seattle coach Pete Carroll reminded players how often he has told them they haven't won anything yet. “Well, tonight we won something,” he said.

Seattle, 7-9 in Carroll's first two seasons in charge, are in the playoffs for the just the second time in five years. But this is the best Seahawk team since the squad that went 13-3 in 2005 and made it to the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks are where the Canucks were three or four years ago – an excellent young team getting better. The Canucks should have won the Stanley Cup two years ago. Two weeks before the playoffs, the Seahawks are one of the hottest teams in the NFL.

Remember what that kind of excitement felt like?

The 49ers generated one first down on their first two possessions. By the time San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick touched the ball again, the Seahawks were ahead 14-0.

Running back Marshawn Lynch powered his way into the end zone from 24 yards just 1:12 into the game, which is more impressive when you consider the Seahawks kicked off. Nine minutes later, Lynch caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Wilson. Lynch rushed for 111 yards on 26 carries.

But the game's pivotal moment came three plays into the second quarter when a 20-yard field-goal chip shot for San Francisco kicker David Akers was blocked by Seattle defensive lineman Red Bryant and returned 90 yards by Sherman, who also intercepted Kaepernick.

It was a 10-point play that, considering the Seahawks' score-at-will offence, meant a lot more to San Francisco than Seattle.

By then, the stadium was rocking, literally, the 49ers couldn't hear themselves think and most of the crowd was dancing in the rain.

“Russell's growing and we're growing with him,” Jon Ryan, the punter from Regina, explained of the last month. “We're putting together something special and just riding the wave right now. We came out flying again, came out hot. It felt a lot like the last two weeks. We know what we're capable of – I think we have all along. Now we're seeing it come to fruition.”

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